晚霞 (wǎn xiá) — sunset glow; evening clouds | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

晚霞 (wǎn xiá) names the glowing colored clouds at sunset, not the sun itself — pair it with 夕阳 (the setting sun) when describing the whole scene.

noun

sunset glowevening clouds

Measure word · 片

Examples

晚霞。
Bàng wǎn de tiān kōng bèi wǎn xiá rǎn hóng le.
The evening sky is dyed red by the sunset glow.
晚霞。
Wǒ xǐ huan zài hú biān kàn wǎn xiá.
I like to watch the sunset glow by the lake.
晚霞。
Zhè měi lì de wǎn xiá ràng wǒ xiǎng qǐ le jiā xiāng.
This beautiful sunset glow reminds me of my hometown.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

晚wǎnevening

霞xiácloud glow

“晚” means evening and “霞” means glowing clouds, so the glow is seen in the evening.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

日免晚

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

免

免miǎn晚wǎn

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

晚 pairs 日, the sun part, with 免, which supplies the sound.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

雨叚霞

Meaning part形符xíngfú

雨雨yǔrain

Sound part声符shēngfú

叚

叚jiǎ霞xiá

Same sound today

霞 combines 雨, meaning rain, with 叚, which gives the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.